DOSIMETRY AND COST OF IMAGING OSSEOINTEGRATED IMPLANTS WITH FILM-BASED AND COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY

Thermoluminescent dosimeters were used to measure radiation doses at c raniofacial sites in a tissue-equivalent phantom during film-based mul tidirectional tomography with the Tomax Ultrascan (Incubation Industri es, Ivyland, Pa.) and during computed tomography with the Elscint Exce l 2400 (Elscint Corp., Tel Aviv, Israel). Mean absorbed doses for pres urgical mandibular and maxillary canine and molar implant assessments were converted to equivalent doses, which were then multipied by publi shed weighting factors and summed to give effective doses. The compute d tomgraphy device consistently delivered higher doses than the Tomax Ultrascan to all anatomic locations; the differences were most pronoun ced when only one or two implant sites were evaluated. The reasons for the dose disparities are considered both anatomically and procedurall y. A survey of examination cost revealed film-based multidirectional t omography to be less expensive than computed tomography.